


You make me go crazy (for real, stop)

by Thousand_Springs



Category: Sweet Elite (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/F, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:20:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27188540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thousand_Springs/pseuds/Thousand_Springs
Summary: At the aftermath of FAXION's disaster, Karolina tries to set up Neha with scholar while Neha tries to do the same for her. Scholar might or not go crazy.
Relationships: Karolina Nováková/Neha Rao/Scholar
Kudos: 8





	You make me go crazy (for real, stop)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Echoe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echoe/gifts).



> Happy birthday, OJ! 
> 
> I hope you like this silly little thing I came up with after stumbling across with this post: https://agirlinsearchof.tumblr.com/post/624671831686823936/imagine-your-ot3-person-a-wants-to-set-person-b

The first time it happened, she didn’t find it _too_ strange.

After all, even if her relationship with Karolina Nováková was completely different to what it had been when they’d first met each other, that didn’t mean the model would indulge her enough to want to spend all of her free time with her… even if they had actually scheduled it this time.

Truth be told, that whole “wanting to know more about the fashion industry” was mostly an excuse so she could be closer to the other girl, but even so, she didn’t expect Karolina to completely bail on her.

She blinked a little and then looked in confusion at the hour displayed by the screen of her phone. Well, she wasn’t late for once.

“Hi, Neha”, she took a seat slowly, still half expecting the tallest one of the pair of friends to suddenly appear, even though it was not like Karolina to be late. If anything, that was _her_ thing. “Not that it’s not a pleasure to see you, but where’s Karolina?”

Neha smiled a little and… were her cheeks a little more colored than before or was that her imagination? She could tell she was slightly confused though, at least going by the frown on her face.

“Hi. Karolina? I believe she was going to spend some time with her brother. Why?”

“She was?” That… really didn’t clarify anything. “She told me we would meet here. I told her I wanted to learn about the fashion industry and she offered to teach me a little”.

The frown on the other girl’s face deepened for a moment. Then, after what seemed to be a sudden spark of understanding, scholar was surprised to see irritation in her eyes.

“Did she now?”

“Well… yes?” She felt like she was missing something, but she didn’t dare to ask just yet. She hoped she didn’t look as confused as she felt.

Neha looked pensive for a moment and then she sighed.

“She might have forgotten”, she said finally, although she didn’t sound too convinced. “I know it’s not like her, but I’m sure it’s nothing serious. I would notice after…”

The reminder of FAXION hung in the air for a moment and scholar opened her mouth to say something comforting, but Neha spoke first.

“No matter. I can teach you instead, if you’re still up for it?”

The gentle smile in her face was all she needed to forget for a moment why was she concerned in the first pace and… well, how could she refuse an offer like that from a genius designer like Neha Rao? She knew how careful the other was with her time and she promised herself she wouldn’t waste this opportunity.

And if she felt butterflies in her stomach every time Neha smiled approvingly at her, that was absolutely no one’s business but her own.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

The second time, she thought it was a little strange, but not enough to reach any conclusion about it.

It had happened at one Tuesday’s morning. Mornings at Arlington were getting colder and colder each day, a clear signal of the approaching winter. A shame she hadn’t realized until that exact moment that she had forgotten a very important thing.

She had a sweater under the uniform, but that didn’t stop her from sneezing right at the exact same moment Neha was emerging from her room

“… Good morning, scholar”.

“Good morning”, she said, a bit grumpily, while she tried to cover herself more by pulling up the collar of her sweater. She shivered a little.

And, of course, it was too much to ask that Neha wouldn’t notice.

“Why aren’t you wearing a scarf?”

“I…” She faltered, embarrassed, but Neha waited patiently. She was feeling weirdly guilty, but being careless with her own things was not a crime, so she continued. “I might have forgotten to pack any when I first came to Arlington”.

“You… forgot?”

She half expected to hear judgement in the designer’s voice and she was surprised that there wasn’t any. It was unclear what it was, it was still hard sometimes to tell what was going on in her head.

“You know? Karol left the dorms earlier this morning, but there was something she was intending to give you whenever she had the chance. I don’t think she’d mind if I do it for her”.

Neha went back into her dorm and, when she came back, she had a black scarf in her hands.

“One of the designers she worked with let her have it”, she explained while scholar took the soft piece of clothing with wonder. “But she said she wanted to give it to you instead.”

“Is it… really okay for me to have it?” she asked, waiting for the other girl’s tiny nod to put it on.

There was something about the scarf that reminded her of Neha’s designs, but… that couldn’t be, could it? Not if it was from another designer Karolina had worked with.

She couldn’t help but think there was something suspicious about all of this. Just what was up with Karolina and Neha recently? She sighed, resigned to let these little anomalies sit at the back of her mind for the day, and then buried her nose on the fabric. It smelled a little like perfume.

She allowed herself to breath it in a few seconds more before following Neha to the main hall.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

The third time, she was starting to think she was either onto something or going crazy.

The piece of bread scholar had been about to put in her mouth fell back into her plate almost silently. A few seconds after, she remembered how to move again and put her hand down.

“I’m sorry, what was that?”

Karolina rolled her eyes.

“I said that Neha enjoys your company the most out of almost everyone at school and that if you ever want to hang out at our dorm, just say so. I’m sure she would like you to be there”.

It was… a weirdly touching offer, but she wasn’t really sure about why was it happening.

“Why… are you telling me this?” she asked cautiously. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the offer and I absolutely will take you up on that, but why?”

Karolina shrugged and almost as if she no longer considered the conversation interesting, picked up one of the strawberries in her plate.

“She won’t tell you herself, so I thought I would let you know instead”, she said, before swiftly changing the subject during the rest of the duration of their shared meal.

The thought stayed in her mind the rest of the day.

Her two dorm neighbors seemed to be speaking for the other a lot lately. Maybe it had to do with the change of their dynamic after the events of FAXION? She wasn’t quite sure what it meant yet.

All she knew for now was that she wasn’t going to let the chance to spend more time with her two favorite persons at Arlington go to waste.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

The fourth time, she was actively looking for it.

She _noticed_ how, despite the two girls coming into the classroom together, Neha had been quick to assure a seat between Alistair and Axel, rather than her usual seat at the side of her best friend, leaving Karolina to take the seat at her side with a confused expression.

“Did you two fight?” asked scholar. She was hesitant to ask the question, but she wasn’t the only one who was looking from Neha to Karol with a baffled expression.

“No…” Karol too seemed distracted, still looking at her friend, but then she huffed and turned to look at her instead. “Is it a problem that I’m sitting with you?”

“No, no! Not at all” she assured her quickly. “I just thought you two always preferred to sit together”.

“We do”, she admitted. “She probably has something to discuss with Axel, you know how in demand she is”.

Scholar was relieved to still hear the pride in her voice. No matter how weird the two of them were behaving, Karolina still held her best friend in the highest regard.

“Although…” the model continued and she stopped the doodles she had started in her notebook to pay more attention. “I have a feeling I know what she’s trying to do”.

In response to her questioning gaze, Karolina just shaked her head.

“I’ll talk with her later; it’s nothing you should concern herself with”.

She really wanted to ask more questions, but as usual, the timing of Arlington’s teachers was perfect.

And, truth be told, she was a little distracted during class by the other girl’s subtle but fond looks through the whole class.

* * *

.

.

.

* * *

Everything went exactly like that for the following weeks: Karolina and Neha seemed to be unable to be together at the same place when she was around, even though both of them assured her constantly they weren’t fighting and neither of them were mad at her either, and kept mysteriously leaving or not even showing up at scheduled study sessions or hang-outs with her, leaving the other to step up in their place. There were also some little gifts or tiny gestures here and then, always from the person absent at the moment.

That on top of the classes was starting to make her feel like she was going crazy.

“I just don’t get it! What’s up with them?” she complained, throwing her arms rather dramatically over her own face. Claire gave her a few pats on the shoulder.

Ellie just giggled. 

“Are you sure you really don’t know?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I knew, don’t you think?” she felt bad for her tone immediately after asking the question, but the girl didn’t seem too offended.

“Should I tell her?” the question was directed at Claire. Scholar couldn’t help but think the expression in the tiny girl’s face was more mischievous that it had any right to be, especially for someone who was supposedly trying to help after listening to her rants about crazy fashion students.

Claire seemed hesitant.

“I don’t think it’s right to interfere, but... I’m afraid it would do more harm than good to let them carry on like this”.

“Tell me… what exactly?”

“Alright then! You should know… that Karolina AND Neha like you.” Despite how excited she seemed, Ellie adopted a more serious tone. “I mean, I’m pretty sure they also like each other, but…”

“Hold on, they WHAT?”

Her expression must have been priceless, because when Ellie looked at her, she immediately burst into laughter and even Claire let out a few giggles.

“The three of you are really equally as dense, huh?”

“But… I don’t… them…”

But it made sense, didn’t it? Suddenly a lot of things made sense.

And she knew what to do about it.

* * *

She had asked the two girls separately to meet with her at the same time in the garden, where she was sure they would have enough privacy. Only Claire was occasionally in there at that hour and she was aware of her plans, so she wasn’t going to show up.

The good news? Both of them were there for once. The bad news? They were having some weird argument about which of them looked prettier and trying to get _her_ to admit it was the other one.

“I still think Neha looks especially pretty today” Karol was saying.

“Karol, you’re literally a model!”

“Girl, just accept the compliment”.

Neha opened her mouth to protest, even with red all over her cheeks, but by then scholar had had enough.

“Oh, my god. Would you two stop that already?” She was tempted to laugh hysterically at the almost identically offended expressions she got on response to her words. “You both look really pretty and I really, really want to kiss both of you! Alright? But I think you also want to kiss each other and I really think we should talk about that”.

Her cheeks were starting to feel very warm, but she held her head high.

Karolina was the first to break the silence.

“… Neha? Do you really…? You still have feelings for me? I thought you liked her!”

"I... I mean, I do. Feel for you like that. Both of you. But I thought..."

"That I didn't like you? I know I didn't tell you anything back then, but Neha, are you serious? Have you met yourself? How could I _not_ like you?"

"What was I supposed to think, Karol? The way you look at her..."

"It's the same way I look at you".

"But then we were..."

"Trying to set up each other with someone we both like and who likes us both while we also like each other? Yes, it seems like it"

Neha seemed at loss for words, so scholar took pity on her. 

"We can take things slowly, but I think it's been long overdue that we do something about this." She reached out and took each girl's hand in one of her own. 

The smiles she got in response would have been enough to feel like confronting them at the same time was worth it. Luckily for her, they still had the whole afternoon to talk properly about their feelings.

And if there were a few kisses in between… well, it was fitting to be surrounded by nothing else but flowers while it happened.


End file.
